Coinbase Eyes Major Shift Beyond Crypto With 2026 Super App Strategy

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has announced the company’s plans for the year 2026, with building an all-in-one finance app at the forefront of its plans.

Armstrong discussed his vision for the future of Coinbase in a posting on the X platform on Friday, which includes expansion, improved payment options, and support for on-chain developers. He also stated that the exchange is working on automation and product enhancements.

“We want to make the most widely used finance app in the world a reality,” said Armstrong, mentioning his plans for the future that involve more than the crypto service.

Armstrong Reveals Everything Exchange Vision

As Armstrong says, the most significant objective for Coinbase in 2026 would be to grow into an “everything exchange.” This would mean including various other financial services offered within an app and would comprise services such as cryptocurrencies, stocks, prediction markets, and commodities.

These services would vary from spot trading to futures and even options, and this would be a major departure from the current cryptocurrency support services offered by Coinbase. Although the date and region for this were not indicated by Armstrong.

The company has also made it clear that the rate of development of non-crypto assets would be highly reliant on what is happening in the regulatory environment, particularly in the United States.

Another thing that Armstrong emphasized was Coinbase’s initiative to onboard more users directly onto the blockchain. This will focus on the company’s developer ecosystem, the Base layer-2 blockchain solution, as well as the Base app.

While a consumer-facing gateway, described as a “Base” gateway to facilitate easier on-chain activity, and a gateway to decentralized applications and social experiences and functionality targeted at creators, similar to those on the Ethereum network.

Coinbase Criticized Over Support Issues

Although the roadmap made headlines, it has also garnered intense criticism from the crypto community. There have been concerns about Coinbase’s customer support model, especially given the recent breach last year.

It was also alleged that the company depended too heavily on external customer service agents. There were previous allegations that some of these external customer service agents in overseas countries received bribes in exchange for disclosing customer data, resulting in losses of approximately $400 million.

Coinbase users directly asked Armstrong whether the company plans to bring its customer service back onshore so that users will enjoy better protection of user privacy. Some users felt that by reducing costs, the company should not sacrifice trust and security.

Some members thought the biggest problem to be solved is the customer support, and that it is the highest priority to improve it. Others encouraged the company to first clean up the Base application by removing the scams and fakes there to create a safer environment for newcomers

“If you’re serious about onboarding the world on-chain, the scam problem needs to be fixed,” one user commented.

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Coinbase Super App Faces Skepticism

The concept of an all-in-one finance app also drew skepticism. Skeptics questioned why customers in the North American and European regions want an app that can do everything.

Though super apps have been successful in some Asian markets, individuals in the community pointed out that such models have failed to succeed in Western markets.

In other news, Base developer Jesse Pollak asked for feedback on how the app can improve. One suggested improvement was offered by a user named “isthinking,” who suggested that creators’ streams of income should be included on their profile pages on Base.

The plan entails channelling music revenue, digital content revenue, and e-commerce money into on-chain identities for creators to receive payouts without selling their tokens.

The user states that a lot of creators do not use crypto tools due to fear of harming their reputation or loss of money. The response from Pollak was in the form of a salute emoji.

With Coinbase pressing ahead with its expansion plans, the company is now faced with the task of balancing its expansion and innovation efforts with its community’s long-standing concerns.

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